ABSTRACT
As reading researchers, our interest is in thinking with, and about, text. Our focus is on reading and thinking with expository texts, specifically in the areas of social studies and science. These texts represent the major subject matter domains in the elementary school, and “are the ones that convey new information and explain new topics” (Black, 1985, p. 249). Since much of social studies and science content is taught through these texts, it makes sense to examine them carefully and to consider how learners read and think about the material in these texts. Towards this end we draw from two programs of research, one by Beck and her colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh and one by Dole and her colleagues at the University of Utah.
